Requesting a Re-read

Photo by Claudio Calligaris

You bring your graded test to a TA to ask that the marking of certain questions be revised. The TA notes that the answers have been altered and some have new material added to them. You explain that the original answers didn’t accurately reflect your knowledge, so you have added clarifications that you feel better represent what you knew at the time you took the exam. Have you violated the Code?

Answer

Yes.

Why is this an issue?

It is good for students to reflect on their work in light of grader feedback, but it is a serious offence to revise graded work prior to submitting it for a re-read.

An interview with the disciplinary officer will be required. See the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures in the Handbook on Student Rights and Responsibilities for more details.

How can it be avoided?

Students should indeed integrate instructor feedback into future work. In fact, some instructors allow students to revise their work for re-grading as part of their teaching methods. When evaluating an assignment, however, graders must only assess what was submitted and cannot infer what a student intended or meant to write.

If a student alters graded work and requests a re-read, the incident must be documented and the instructor will contact the appropriate disciplinary officer. Modified graded work can never be resubmitted unless students are expected to submit multiple drafts or corrected work as part of an assignment. Consult the grading section of the course outline or ask the TA about the resubmission policy in the course.

Quick Fact

I'm having trouble keeping up. If I pay someone who took the course last year to do my assignment, I own the work, right? Will I be in trouble if I submit a purchased assignment?

You will have submitted the work of another as your own; that is an academic offence. You will have created an unfair advantage over other students in the class.

Related Information

"Im just trying to do everything I can do to get through this school... [like] answer multiple-choice questions with 'c' - a letter that can easily be altered and submitted for a regrade... If this is the only way to do it, so be it."
- Student interviewed for: Kleiner, C., & Lord, M. (1999, November 22). The cheating game: 'Everyone's doing it,' from grade school to graduate school. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved from web.

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